Return
by Hanieya
Summary: There is one thing that will haunt me forever, one thing that I will never be released from. For the rest of my life, however long that might be with demons, vampires, werewolves and faeries alike hunting me, I will never forget what I did that day. I will never be allowed to forget that one thing: I am the reason my entire family is dead.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Wherever you've are_

_I'll come to you_

"I came home to the massacred bodies of my family."

_Wherever you've gone_

_I'll wait for you_

"I came home to the girl I'd always loved suffering and screaming."

_I'll follow the stars_

_To wherever you are_

"I came home to my adoptive family covered in more blood than I'd ever hope to see in my life."

_As long as you wait for me_

"I came home to destruction."


	2. Return

**Hey people; this is my new story Return, which features the POV of 5 different people. I do not actually have an idea of what I'm going to do with this yet, so please do not expect me to update everyday or even every week, because I will be requiring time to think of an actual plot line and also some time to do my masses of homework. Forgive me for delays, but don't say I didn't warn you. I'm only publishing this because it's been stuck in my head for months, and I ran out of notebooks to write in. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Jace Wayland or Michael Wayland except the name Nathaniel I added to Jace's name, but I do own his story, just not his physical characteristics; the character himself belongs to Cassandra Clare. **

**Enjoy the story,**

**~Hanieya**

**PS: I realize the first chapter maybe be boring, but trust me when I say it'll get better!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Return**

_**Derek POV**_

Derek Everett smiled to himself as he checked his watch. Only 4:30. It was all right; he could be patient, even as he waited for his 7:00 plane, which would bring him back to the family he'd missed dreadfully for the last eight years. For the last years, ever since he'd started high school, and his parents had insisted on moving the entire family, back to their native land of Italy. His mother had gotten a job as a professor at the University Carlo Cattaneo, the university he'd later attended under his mother's desires. But now, it was all over, the long wait was over. He'd finally go back to see the family he'd missed more than anything else in the world. And he couldn't wait.

There'd been another reason of course, why he'd been send to Italy. The five of them had been lectured years ago about the need to learn different fighting styles in order to best their opponents time and time again. Derek, though a kendo master himself, taught by his father, who owned a company that taught that particular martial art, didn't understand why the five of them couldn't see each other during the time they spent apart. _"I can't even imagine what the twins went through in the six years they were apart,"_ Derek though absently as his phone buzzed with a new text.

"Hey, D-chan!" the text read. Derek smiled gently; only one person in the entire world called him by that name. She was the only person allowed to call him by such a childish name.

"Morning, Ary. What are you doing up so early?" As the oldest of the five of them, he couldn't help sometimes but be protective of all of them. It wasn't his fault he'd decided to be best friends with people, who at the youngest, were five years younger than himself.

The text came back quickly. "What are you talking about? It's 7:30! I need to get up and get ready before going to school!"

Ahh… that was right; school had started for her last week. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he popped up in her house when she got home.

"What's up with you?" the text came.

"Nothing, just chilling while I wait for the 'rents to get home to take Chrissy and I out to dinner."

Derek's smile grew wider at the lie; little did she know that he'd soon be home; he could hardly wait to see the surprise on her face! Even now, he could remember how the two of them had first met. It'd been, how long ago, almost twelve years ago now since the day he'd first set his eyes on the girl he'd grow up calling his best friend and little sister.

_Derek was teaching a kendo class at his dad's studio, calling out the names of the students who had signed up for it. Then, in had rushed a small little girl with two boys who couldn't look more different from each other. _

_The girl had been the first to regain her balance, having been run into by the two boys. "Sorry we're late," she gasped, "We actually fell asleep after lunch, and when we woke up, we had to rush here!"_

_Derek had been entranced, and more than a bit surprised; usually when people were late, they blamed one of their friends, or anyone but themselves, but this girl was saying outright that she was also at fault. It was amazing. "It's quite alright," he said cautiously, wondering what it was about this little girl that caught his attention so much, "Just be on time next time, alright?"_

_The girl had beamed at him, and the three of them had bowed to him, "Hai, sensei!" they cried in unison. _

"_Now, what are your names?"_

"_My name is Jonathan Christopher Nathaniel Herondale Wayland," the blond said, "But I much prefer to be called Jace. These two are the Chan twins, Arya and Andre."_

"_What's your name?" the other boy, Andre, asked softly._

"_I am Derek Everett," he'd said equally as quietly._

_During the class, he had kept a special eye on the three of them, seen how they worked together so completely perfectly. And he was jealous.; he'd never had such a relationship with Chris, with his artsy desires. He'd watched as the twins fought each other with equal strength, then Jace with the same vigour. They absorbed everything Derek taught them raptly and performed them as well as they could. Even at that time, Derek had seen that this wasn't any of their first time's fighting. He wanted to know why that was; why was it that innocent little kids would be skilled in martial arts? And they were skilled; there was no doubt about that. _

_After the class, he planned on approaching the three of them, but before he could even open his mouth to call them to him, they were already heading towards them. "We're going to the ice rink to cool down a bit," Jace said, a friendly smile on his face, "Do you want to come with us?"_

_It seemed the three of them would not astounding him that day; they would invite him, without knowing him for any more than an hour and a half? His astonishment must have shown on his face, because Arya and Andre both laughed, a beautiful, harmonious sound. "It's just that we love meeting people who can fight, and the way you taught the class was amazing! We'd love to learn even more from you, if you would allow us to, and we'd think it would be great if the four of us were friends!"_

_He couldn't help nod at their sincerity. As they skated, each of them trying to outperform the others, he realized he'd finally found his match: people who loved the martial arts as much as he did and yearned to be the best of the best. Their desires matched his own. During their breaks, they found out that they really did have a lot in common, and he was attached to these people, the ones who accepted anyone no matter who they were or what their background was. _

_It wasn't before long that he found out all their real natures, how it was within Jace and Arya's natural instinct to wreak havoc on the surrounding area and be blunt and hilarious while Andre came on as the shy guy with the popular friends. Andre fit in with his sister and best friend though all right; he was a genius, that boy, and he came up with just as many pranks as the other two, and it wasn't before long that he came to love these three best friends that had literally, run right into his life. _

Another text came right after that. "Yo, what's up man?"

Derek smiled again, this time wider. "Waiting for the 'rents to get home and make me dinner. How's post-grad treating you, Jacey-boy?"

Derek could practically hear the other boy's laughter at the childhood name. He truly couldn't remember a time he'd been so excited, save the time the five of them had been taken on their first cruise together, or their first hunt. It'd be exhilarating, and dangerous, but they'd all loved it.

The text came a moment later. "Fine, fine. There are so many damn fine girls at this place; you wouldn't believe it!" Ah, Jace, always the player of the group, with a temper to match Ary's; it was a miracle the two had become friends without killing each other first.

"I can believe it alright. Julliard: a sweet place with smart girls who can play every instrument known to man."

"It's a babe heaven here; seriously."

Derek laughed, a nice, easy sound that for some reason always had girls swooning at his feet. A ringing sound entered his ears as he thought of about the havoc Jace must be wreaking on the school staff and the girls with his fine blond locks and golden eyes. Jace had once described himself as a Roman god, an Apollo sent to walk among men. Arya had hit him in response and wondered out loud how he managed to fit his head through the door.

"Derek!" a female voice called to him.

Turning, he faced his mother, father and brother, who were standing at the doorway. "Come on," his father said, smiling, "we should head to the airport now."

The Italian warrior only smiled as he grabbed his bags and hauled them outside to join his family. He was going home.

_**Andre POV**_

Finally, **finally**, he was going home. It wasn't that he'd hated the time spent in England with Aiden, who had become more of a brother to him than anything else, but he could never shake of the longing he'd felt for the open skies of Vancouver, or the startling blue of Arya's eyes. Andre fell asleep seeing her picture every night, of the two of them when they'd been so much younger.

Even now, as he sat on the long ride back to his home from England, he was already bouncing in his seat, even though they had another seven hours before the plane landed. There was nothing, **nothing at all**, that was ever going to separate him from Arya ever again. Nothing.

At the same time, he felt a bittersweet happiness at leaving England. For the last six years, he'd called the place home, had made friends, and had met a girl he'd loved with everything in his being. He'd gotten used to the grey skies and strange English words of those around him, who were awed by his Canadian language. It'd been a strange change in surrounding, but he'd taken to it immediately. Now, to be leaving all his friends, it was sad, but at the same time, he wished he hadn't gone in the first place so he could have stayed with Arya.

"What are you thinking?" a voice asked him, accompanied by a gentle nudge.

Andre glanced over and smiled at his older cousin, Aiden Black, who had been adopted into their family by his aunt. "I can't wait to get home and see Arya again," he answered truthfully. It was impossible for Andre and Aiden to lie to lie to each other anymore; they were just too close. In the six years they'd spent in England together, they'd grown closer, until they were brothers.

Aiden gave him a gentle smile, the same gentle smile that drove girls to him like bees to honey. "We're all excited to be going home." Aiden told him quietly. "I haven't seen Arya in the last six years either; it'll be the best feeling in the world when all five of us get back together. I know it's different for you and her too; you were inseparable before the split."

"We were," Andre agreed quietly, "but we all know it was for the best, even though we don't necessarily like it. We all had to learn new tactics, work on the separate areas we all specialized in. We both learned new techniques, some I'm sure Arya will love. I can't wait to see her face when we get back."

Aiden nodded, and that was the end of the conversation. Andre couldn't help but think back to the first time he and Arya had met Aiden.

_Auntie had brought Aiden before the whole family to be introduced as her son. Andre could still remember the disgust he'd felt to find out he was English and not Chinese like the rest of them. He hadn't been able to understand why at the time, but the brown haired, green-eyed stranger who stood in front of them all proudly had fascinated Arya. Even at the age of eight years old, ten years ago now, Aiden had posed a regal presence, one not to be messed with by other people. His very presence in the room had commanded the attention of every single person, and he'd done it without even trying. Andre had feared him because of that, and the way he'd managed to capture Arya's attention with completely._

_Later, when no one was looking, Andre dragged Arya outside, even as she protested against him._

"_What's wrong with you?!" she demanded of him.' Why is she asking such a stupid question? It's so obvious!'_

"_Mom and Dad said we shouldn't go near him!" he retorted, even though his parents had never said such a thing. They'd only indicated it by placing their hands on the two of their shoulders' when Aiden had been introduced._

"_They didn't say anything like that," Arya replied. "I wanna go see him, Andre!"_

"_Daddy says he might be dangerous!" he yelled right back._

_At the time, neither of them had realized he was standing there, and they'd been yelling in Cantonese anyways, so he hadn't thought his cousin would understand. He was wrong._

"_I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was someone out here; I'll leave," Aiden had said quietly in perfect Chinese._

_Andre had been shocked out of his mind, giving Arya the perfect opportunity to escape from him and run up to meet the English boy. "I'm sorry, did you hear all that? Andre didn't mean it; he just doesn't really like strangers-"_

"_Hey!" he'd replied indignantly, "Don't say something like that, Ary!"_

"_It's true and you know it! You didn't like Jace when you first met __**him**__ either!" Arya had ignored his protests afterwards and turned back to their new cousin. "You understand Cantonese? And you're English? That's so cool! My name's Arya Chan by the way, and this meanie here is my twin brother Andre." She'd held out her hand to shake his, but it was what Aiden had done that had truly shocked him._

_ "It's a pleasure to meet you Arya, and you as well, Andre," Aiden had replied softly as he took his sister's hand and placed a kiss on the back. Arya had blushed prettily as Aiden let go of her hand and smiled at her before turning to him, a friendly smile on his face, holding his hand out._

With some consideration, Andre had taken his cousin's hand, shaking it firmly. He still didn't trust this new man, but if his sister did, he was willing to stay with her.

After a while, they grew close, and when they'd grown older, he'd gone with Aiden to England to study more fighting techniques. Andre's initial distrust of his cousin vanished over the years, and they'd grown close as brothers, but Andre knew Aiden still harboured more affection for his sister than himself, if only for the fact that his sister had been the first to extend him the hand of friendship.

The small, little beautiful girl with the big heart; that was the description all gave her when they first met his sister. Until they saw her with Jace, at which point she would become the she-devil to his devil. Yes, he was definitely going to love seeing everybody again. He couldn't wait.

_**Aiden POV**_

Aiden absolutely couldn't wait to see his love, er, his cousin, again. Ah, who was he kidding? He was still in love with Arya, even after not having seen her for six years now. He was as much in love with her as the day he had first laid eyes on the black haired, blue-eyed beauty. "A fallen angel," he had first thought, but after a while knowing her, knowing her outrageous activity with her best friend, he thought for sure he wouldn't care for her anymore, and he could finally end the ridiculous crush he had on her. After all, there was no hope she'd ever return his feelings; they were cousins, for Christ's sakes! Aiden had thought that such blatant disrespect for authority and wild behaviour would turn him away from his beautiful cousin, but he'd been wrong. He loved her more than ever. After he'd found out that, he'd gone and hit a wall. Several times. When Arya had asked him why he had those, he'd just told her that he was in a bad mood and nothing more. From then on, he'd thought of her as the devil in an angel's body. A truly fitting description, even though Arya was, in reality, one of the kindest people he knew.

He shook his head; why couldn't he stop thinking about his cousin, the cousin he was still madly in love with even though she'd probably found someone else by then? Oh right, of course! It was because he loved her! How stupid. Aiden smacked himself once; he shouldn't be thinking about her with such animosity; he was truly excited out of his mind to see her again, feeling her small, supple body in arms. That thought itself turned him on; was he pathetic or what?

But, he stilled hoped against hope that maybe, just maybe, she still loved him too. Aiden grinned at that thought, remembering the day he had found out that Arya, the only woman he would ever love, loved him in return. It'd been a day long ago, the second year after he'd been introduced.

_"Arya, where are you?" he called through the house. Where had his cousin gone? It was time for dinner, and she was absolutely nowhere to be seen! 'Or maybe it's only me who hadn't seen her; she's been acting weird these past few days… I wonder why? Did I do something wrong? But how could that be? I've only been here three days!' _

_ That had been what he'd been thinking about when he finally stumbled upon her sitting on one of the couches in the training room. "Arya!" he said, relieved to have finally found her. He grabbed her hand, trying to ignore the tingle that ran up his arm from the touch. Was he a pervert for wanting to keep touching her? "Come on, it's dinner time."_

_ She had shrunk away from his touch and her face had turned a cute shade of pink. He wanted to kiss those cheeks, but she refused to meet his eyes. It bothered him not to see the brilliant blue he loved. "What's wrong?" he asked gently, but he wasn't sure he wanted the answer; what if he'd done something wrong?_

_ "Nothing," she said in the most unbelievable tone in the world; "Go ahead; I'll be up in a minute."_

_ Aiden didn't hesitate; he pulled over another armchair and sat down right in front of her, bending over to rest his elbows on his knees. He stared right at his cousin, but she still refused to meet his eyes. What happened to her? Aiden knew from the tightness in her jaw that she was clenching her teeth and from the slight tear tracks down her face that she'd been crying? What happened to her? Arya never cried, not that he could remember, not even when Andre had accidentally hit her too hard and broken one of her ribs. _

_ He kept staring at her, and staring, and staring. Still nothing. Finally, he decided it was time to do something. Without thinking about it for even a second, he reached out and took hold of her chin, tilting her face up to meet his own. For a moment, they just stared into the other's eyes, brilliant sapphire meeting mesmerizing emerald. And then he couldn't hold it in anymore. He'd spent the last few days doing his best to act normal around his beautiful cousin, but seeing her like this, the desperation on her face, not even all his years of forced self-control could help him._

_ Aiden kissed her._

_ And she kissed him back._

_ Aiden couldn't remember how long they'd kissed, only that it'd been the best feeling of his life to be able to pour out all the feelings he'd never been able to vocalize into the kiss as he pulled her onto his lap. When he'd finally been forced to move away to breathe, they were both breathing heavily and flushed, but still looking into each other's eyes. _

_ After that, Arya seemed to realize what had happened and jumped away from him, muttering a hurried apology before dashing from the room. It'd been an awkward dinner, with the two of them avoiding all eye contact at all costs._

_ Aiden could remember the despair he'd felt. For a moment, a glorious moment, he'd thought that perhaps his cousin might love him as he did her, as he always would, but clearly, it hadn't been true, if her rushed exit was anything to indicate. While he stood in the shower, he couldn't decide which was more pathetic; the fact that he was mourning over his love life like a broken-hearted girl or that he had ever considered that there might be something between them in the first place. Those thoughts earned him another few punches against the wall. _

_ That same night, he was awoken by his bed dipping under another weight. His actions were pure instinct as he grabbed the intruder and flipped them under him, placing a knife at the person's neck. Brilliant blue eyes stared back up at him fearlessly._

_ "What are you doing?" he hissed, half excited to find her in his bed, and half annoyed by her lack of precaution; he could have killed her! _

_ "We need to talk about this afternoon," she whispered back. It was too dark to see her face properly; he couldn't even read her eyes._

_ "I don't regret it," he said quietly._

_ "Neither do I."_

_ Those words stopped his heart as he paused, waiting for her to go on._

_ "I love you," she whispered desperately, "That's why I avoided you; I thought it would go away in a few days, and then we could go back to normal. Until then, I was just going to stay away from you. I thought there was no way you could ever-."_

_ He stopped her with his lips, something he thought he'd never be able to do again. It was as amazing as the first time. "I love you," he breathed softly. There was no need to say anything else; those three words alone drove her to wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips against his own with all the passion in her small body. _

_ They kissed for a long time, always clinging to each other, like they needed the other to survive. And that was what Arya was to him; she was his salvation, his saving grace, and any other cliché one could possibly think up of. It was possible that more would have come to his mind given the chance, but one touch from her drove all rational thought from his mind, and he didn't give a damn._

_ A while later, he pulled away from her reluctantly. Her eyes had been slightly glazed over, her lips swollen from the force of his kiss, and her cheeks flushed with exertion. It was a damn miracle they both still had their clothes on and she was still as innocent as she was when she got there. Aiden moved away from his love, much to her protest. His beautiful cousin stretched out her strong, slender arms, reaching for him, but he had to stay away, no matter how much he wished otherwise, knowing that if he went back to her, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking her then and there. He wasn't willing to take things so quickly when they'd just discovered their love for each other. _

_ "Aiden," her angelic voice called to him._

_ "Arya, we need to talk about this," he replied._

_ "What is there to talk about?"_

_ "This! We can't do this in public, no matter how much I want to show to everybody that you're mine; people believe we are nothing more than cousins; your own twin thinks that!"_

_ "Then what do you propose we do?" she asked softly, finally understanding the issue._

_ He slid a hand slowly down his face, not believing he was about to say his next words. He didn't want to, but what was there to do? "We can't tell anyone; we'll have to stay away from each other, deny this. This'll be the last time we do this. You'll pretend nothing happened, and so will I. There's nothing else to be done." It killed him to say those words, but there truly wasn't anything else for them to do; how could they go public with this? How could they even hide it? Andre would find out through the mental bond the twins shared, and what would happen then? Aiden couldn't let his love risk it._

_ Aiden had expected raging, expected her to demand that there was another solution, but what he hadn't expected, was complete and utter silence. But it was what he got. "Arya?" he asked quietly._

_ She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Why do we have to do this?" she whispered at last, "Why can't we just tell everybody? They'd understand."_

_ "You know that this would eventually reach both our parents; it's in all senses incest, even though we aren't blood relatives. It's illegal."_

_ "We're not related by blood!" she cried desperately._

_ "It doesn't matter, Ary. What do you think people would say about this, about you? Would you risk everyone shunning you just for me? I can't let you do that."_

_ "It's not your choice; I love you Aiden, I always have."_

_ "And I love you; that's why I won't let you risk yourself for this."_

_ Arya raised her chin defiantly, "It doesn't seem like you do; you don't even want to try."_

_ He was on her in less than a second. "You think I don't care for you?" he repeated quietly, "You think I haven't tried to restrain myself from touching you or throwing you on a bed and taking you whether you wish it or not? Because I've had to. Had I desired it, you and I both know that I could have had you. I could have touched you here." He placed his hand on her hip," Or here." With one hand, he cupped her breast, running his thumb over the curved flesh, drawing a gasp from her. He was playing with fire; he wouldn't be able to control himself too much longer, but he had to make her understand. "Or even here," he whispered, running a finger up the inside of her thigh. _

_ She bit her lip sexily, a whimper escaping through her lips despite her attempts to prevent it. "But I haven't," he whispered, "Why? Because not only would it technically be considered rape, but because it would ruin both of us. How would people look at us knowing that our relationship was more than just familial? Do you want to see the disgust on their faces, Arya? Think about what you would lose."_

_ Arya closed her eyes, and a single tear ran down her face, tearing at his heart. He'd done that to her, and it killed it. "I love you," she whispered._

_ "And I you."_

_ She kissed him once more before snuggling into his arms. After that night, they always knew that they loved each other, but they tried to ignore their desires for each other, doing their best to appear normal. Still, they couldn't help hidden embraces now and then, despite how wrong it'd be if anyone found them. They couldn't help it, and they didn't want to. But it was satisfactory just knowing their real feelings about the other. For now, that was enough. _

Aiden shook himself from the memory, looking at the clock. Still six and a half hours before he reached his love. Even if she didn't care for him anymore, it would be great just to see her and the rest of his family. It would be enough.

_**Jace POV**_

_"Ary's going to be so surprised when she sees me,"_ Jace thought smugly as he grabbed his luggage. He headed towards the exit where he knew there would be a girl waiting for him. To make the maximum dramatic entrance to his return home, he'd spoken to one of Arya's friends on the online chatting website they'd agreed to use while he was in New York. Jace, being who he was, had managed to talk his best friend's friend into calling all her online friends to meet her in person. If there was one thing Jace was proud of, it was his ability to talk people he didn't know into doing anything he wanted just by using his charm. Oh who was he kidding? He was proud of every aspect of himself! He was, after all, a golden god, which a perfect 4.0 GPA, capable of playing any instrument, with the voice of an angel, captain of all sports he'd bothered to participate in in high school, and who could possibly forget the killer body? Girls got hit by traffic just to get his attention, and that was by no means an exaggeration.

Stepping outside, he spotted a group of people, in the middle which was the girl Arya called one of her closest friends outside their family, Kary, a French mixed with Chinese, he was told. She was a pretty girl, but there was really only one girl left for him, the girl he'd met in New York.

Grinning, Jace sauntered up to the group of them, three of which were guys and two were girls, all friends with Arya. Jace couldn't say he approved much of his friend's taste in company in this aspect; two sob girls, an egotistic maniac with no power to back himself up, a guy that made no absolutely no sense at all and was in short a martyr, and a guy who acted emo but didn't look it. No, compared to the rest of the family, these people didn't measure up at all. What had Arya seen in them that interested her?

"Sorry I'm late," he said finally, announcing his presence.

For a moment, the lot of them were silent, not that he could blame them; he was truly a magnificent specimen of a man.

"Are you Jace Wayland?" Kary asked finally, blushing like crazy.

"I am," he replied, "You may bow at my greatness."

Out of the corner of his eye, he one of them scoff under his breath. That was probably the egomaniac. He really had no reason at all to be so proud of himself; he wasn't that great looking a guy, with dull brown hair and pale blue eyes; there was nothing truly remarkable about him. "You would scoff at such a magnificent being when you belong in the pits of hell with the rest of the demons? Rather hypocritical of you, isn't it?" Jace drawled.

Turning his attention back to Kary, he said, "Well, I'm rather excited to meet Arya, so if you would kindly take us all to her, that would be very pleasant indeed."

Jace could see the smugness in the girl's eyes; she thought Jace didn't know Arya's real name was actually Lily. However, the girl also didn't know that Jace actually knew her much, **much** better than she did herself. Jace smirked a bit; the bet would be the worst part about coming back here.

Before he'd left for New York, Jace had given Arya a dare: she had to dress as a nerdy girl, with fake fat, glasses and contacts for the next years until he got back from New York, and was forbidden from taking off any part of the disguise save for bathing and haircuts. She also had to change her name, and was prohibited from telling anybody about her true identity. In exchange, Jace would pay her a thousand dollars for every month she kept the dare. His dad was the famous Michael Wayland of Wayland corp.; he could afford it.

The part about the dare that Arya hadn't known though, was that he had done it for her sake. He knew the power schemes of people, and Arya had always been surrounded by men, leading many to believe that she had no real power of her own, and all of it came from the rest of the family. Jace had no doubt that Arya would easily be able to deal with every single one of them on her own, but it would have een so much better to avoid it. Beyond that, it was dangerous for Arya to remain on her own; the demons thought the same as normal men: they would hunt Arya, all of them, if they realized she was on her own. It'd been for her own safety that he had hid her identity. However, nobody else in the family knew about it, so it was best to keep quiet for now.

This girl, Kary, had never been friends with Arya before she had become Lily, and so she never suspected anything wrong. Jace knew though, and he would relish the look of shock on her face when Arya revealed her true identity, not to mention her jaw-dropping beauty. Even though they'd been separated for the last five years, there was no doubt in his mind that Arya was as beautiful, or rather, even more so, than when he left. It'd surprise him if she wasn't, and Lord knew **that** wasn't an easy thing to do.

"Yes, of course, I'd take you to her not, but she isn't answering her phone, so I'm not quite sure if she's home. Would you all like to come to my place for now?"

"Alright," one of the sob girls said. Jace had absolutely no idea what her name was, nor did he care to know; all that mattered was that he get to his best friend faster.

"Where are you?" he sent the text to Arya. He waited for several minutes, but there was no reply. How odd; Arya always kept her phone on her, and school wasn't in session, nor was it night time. Maybe she was charging it… Thinking there must be a good excuse, he ignored it.

The lot of them all returned to Kary's house, where they relaxed for a while. They hung out for a while, Jace spending most of the time pacing and answering questions while the rest of them talked about all the sides of Arya that they knew. It was pointless though; they would never know her like he did. He could still remember how they'd become friends.

_Jace raced for the last swing, determined to get it before his friend did. Suddenly, there was a small girl sitting in it, laughing as a boy who looked exactly like her pushed her back and forth, both of them giggling. Jace stopped, staring in disbelief; how had she gotten there? He hadn't even seen the girl! Nevertheless, he stalked up to the girl, an angry look on his face that he was sure would terrify her. He was five at the time, and the little girl still looked so small; she was sure to be scared! _

_ "Hey!" Jace said bossily, "I was going to get on that!"_

_ The girl looked at him calmly, and for some reason, his senses roared in appreciation at the fearlessness of her nature. "I know; I saw you running here, but Andre and I got here first, so you'll have to wait your turn," she said in her cute little voice._

_ Jace, being an irrational five year old, pushed her with all his might. She landed hard on her brother and the two of them jumped right back up before they both jumped at him, snarling. He smirked cockily; they were just little kids, and he was a trained fighter; they would have no chance against him. He was wrong. _

_ Both the kids fought with a strength unmatched, their teamwork completely and utterly invincible. By the time they were done about ten minutes later, Jace was at their mercy. The boy, Andre, opened his mouth to speak, probably to yell at him, but the girl interrupted. "That was amazing!" she cried, her mouth shaped in a huge smile, "How did you learn to fight like that?"_

_ "Me? How about the two of you? I haven't had such great a fight in ages!" Jace replied enthusiastically as Andre shot the girl a look. It was true though! Jace had never met someone his size who could fight like he could, and it was exhilarating! He knew then without a doubt that these people would be important to his future._

_ The girl grinned and held out her hand to help him up, "Let's start over. My name is Arya Chan, and this is my twin brother Andre Chan. What's your name?"_

_ "I'm Jonathan Christopher Nathaniel Herondale Lightwood Wayland," he said, "But everyone calls me Jace."_

_ "That is a really long name," Andre said, his eyes wide in appreciation._

_ "It is."_

_ For the rest of the afternoon, they'd played together with Jace's friend Ryland, all of them having fun, but Ryland wasn't very into it, and left early, leaving the three to play on their own. _

_The next day, Jace and his mother and father went to greet the neighbours that had just moved in behind their house, and lo and behold, there were the twins again with another boy, their older sibling Emil. "Hello there strangers," Jace grinned as he saw his two new friends._

"_Jacey!" they both cried, running to give him a hug. Despite Andre's initial misgivings with him, he'd soon dismissed the feelings, trusting his sister. After that day, the three of them played together every single day, learning new moves from each other and the T.V. _

_However, the thing that made Jace and Arya closer than him and Andre, was the fact that they were both egotistical and tended to cause a lot of chaos. Their love of practical jokes and making people yell at them after a prank was identical. Jace had found new best friends in the siblings. _

For a while longer, Jace thought about the rest of his family, smiling at interesting memories and laughing at ridiculous ones. It was pleasant to remember their first hunt especially; it'd been a great day for all of them, and one he'd never forget.

Jace was shook out of his memory as his phone rang. "Hello, Jace the Great is here; if you are a lovely lady, perhaps there is a service you might like me to perform for you, and if you aren't a lovely lady or one of the only four people I will deign to speak to, hang up now."

"For a smart guy, you really don't use many big words," an accented voice said back.

Jace grinned largely, "Aiden, my man. What's up?"

"You'll never guess where we are."

"Home, I would think."

"… how'd you know?"

Jace laughed; Aiden was just so predictable. "Because that's where I am too bro. I'm over at one of Arya's friend's houses right now; you should come join me while we wait for the last of us to get here. Arya'll be shocked out of her mind to see all of us."

"That she will. We'll be over soon."

"Later English."

"Goodbye, Jacey."

Jace chuckled as he hung up; what was up with the nicknames today? First Derek and now Aiden. Maybe everyone was just in a good mood to get home; Jace knew he was.

"You invited someone over without my permissions?" Kary asked from the kitchen doorway.

Jace didn't even bother denying it. "I did. You can trust them; they know Arya, and there's no one Arya trusts more."

"How would you know that? You haven't even seen her," the emo guy argued.

"Making assumptions without any proof, I see. Don't talk about things you know nothing about; it makes you look so much more foolish," Jace said dismissively.

A while later, Andre and Aiden arrived, both of them grinning from ear to ear. "Jace!" they both exclaimed, dropping their luggage and rushing to him.

"Andre! Aiden!" Jace cried in return, embracing both of them.

"Yo man, it's good to see you!" Andre grinned, stepping back.

"Same to you two," Jace agreed, "It's been six years guys, but our family's finally going to be together again."

"None of us can wait to see Arya," Aiden agreed, "But while we're here, we might as well wait for the Italian as well."

"Do either of you know when he's getting back?"

"I have a feeling he should be back soon," Aiden said.

"Then wait we will. I was originally just going to wait for this chica here to take me to Arya, but Arya hasn't been answering her cell all day. Andre, what do you think?"

Andre frowned at the mention of his sister not answering. The twins had a mental bond, one that had been dysfunctional while they were separated due to the distance, but did it work now?

"I can't feel her," Andre said quietly, "But this place isn't that far away…"

"Maybe the bond's just not working properly; you have been separated for a long time," Aiden said gently.

"You're probably right," Andre nodded, but the frown stayed on his face. There was something wrong about this…

They talked for a while longer, and finally, Andre got another call, "Hello?"

Jace snorted in the background, "Polite English people."

"Andre! Are you still in England?"

"You're home, aren't you?"

"I am, and from that, I would suppose that you are too."

"Aiden, Jace and I are all here. Come find us."

"Be there in a few."

By then, the sun had set, and it was getting dark; there would be no going to Arya that day. Half an hour later, Derek arrived. The four of the family made their merry greetings before joining the rest of the household, smiling and laughing. It'd been so long since the lot of them were all together that they absolutely couldn't wait to get to the last of them, but they weren't foolish enough to brave the demons when they had no knowledge of what the others had learned in the past few years; hunting would have to wait until the lot of them were familiar with each other's tactics again.

The next morning, Andre asked Kary, "Can we all go to see Arya today?"

"She's still not picking up her cell," Kary replied, frowning. There was definitely something wrong now; Arya never parted from her cell for this long. It was time to find out what was wrong.

The four of them looked at each other and nodded before grabbing their stuff and heading out the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kary asked.

"Home, to where Arya is," Andre replied.

"You don't even know where to find her!" Kary protested.

The four of them stopped and turned to face her. "What did I say yesterday about making assumptions?" Jace asked softly. He didn't approve of the friends his sister had been making these past few years, not at all.

"Do you know who we are?" Derek asked.

"Yes! You're friends of Lily that she met on that chat site!"

"Making assumptions again," Jace said in a sing song voice, "How dreadfully foolish of you."

Andre levelled his eyes at Kary, "First of all, the girl we seek is not known as 'Lily'; her name is Arya-"Andre spoke over Kary's protests, "and I would know, because I am her twin brother. Aiden here is our cousin, Jace and Derek are our honorary adopted brothers. Now, if you'd like to tell me that I have no idea where my own house is, I'd welcome it, but otherwise, I would very much appreciate it if you would be silent."

Turning, Andre strode out the door, the other three in tow. _"That boy's gained some guts in England," _Jace nodded approvingly; "This should be fun."

As it turned out, everybody, including Kary, followed the four friends to their childhood home, but what they saw was nothing of what they expected. The house looked perfectly fine on the outside, but it was what was outside.

As they neared the house, they all stopped, because there was the one they'd all been thinking about, bloody and limping back towards the house from the opposite direction, gasping in complete pain, body covered in wounds. Pain was apparent in her every movement; Jace had never seen his friend in such complete and utter torment, and he never wanted to again, but there she was. _"What happened to her?! How did this happen?! This was supposed to be a great day! Arya!"_ All those thoughts ran through his mind as she lifted her head, hair matted by the blood of her wounds. It was horrible just to see her, with her wounds and bloody and torn clothing that barely covered anything.

Her tired, agonized, sapphire blue eyes lifted up to meet them as she gasped for breath. Closing her eyes, she shook once, and fell. "**ARYA**!"


End file.
